BERHAMPUR: The mass nesting of the endangered Olive Ridley turtles at Rushikulya rookery in Ganjam district is likely to break the previous years’ records. Berhampur DFO Amlan Nayak said in the last three days, at least 4,65,357 turtles have laid eggs in the rookery. Since the mass nesting is expected to continue till the first week of March, it is likely that records of the previous years of the number of turtles visiting the rookery will be broken. Last year, over 5.50 lakh Olive Ridleys had nested at Rushikulya.
“On day three of the arribada on Rushikulya coast this year, we have recorded over 4.65 lakh nests. On an average, over 1.5 lakh nests were made by the turtles per day,” said the DFO. Meanwhile, the Zoological Survey of India has started tagging the turtles at the rookery. At least 55 turtles, which were tagged with metallic flippers in the last two years, have returned to Rushikulya to lay eggs this year.
Tagging of Olive Ridleys helps scientists identify the migration path of the turtles and the places visited by them after congregation and nesting. Senior scientist Anil Mohapatra said at least 8,500 turtles have been tagged at Rushikulya and Gahirmatha marine sanctuary so far.
“We have collected photographs of the tagged turtles and will conduct a detailed study after completing the process this year,” added Mohapatra who is also the officer-in-charge of Estuarine Biology Research Centre, a regional unit of Zoological Survey of India at Gopalpur.